American White Pelican catching Catfish fish (view larger)

There were several of these birds hunting cooperatively in a group. This one lucked  out. 

 

I  usually see them eating smaller prey, this was a hard act to swallow.. it took some time and then the fish continued to move rather violently in the birds throat for a half hour.  It was so strong that the birds head was visibly jarred from side to side.  Likely not it's most satisfying meal.

I had thought you would get some good shot like this.  TFS!

Hi Steve,

An excellent capture of an unusual event.

Fishing the waterways in Florida for over 40 yeats, I have seen many Pelican consume much smaller catfish, but this is  a meal for 4 birds !

Having been lanced by the sharp barbs of the catfish, and then injected by the poison into my hand or arm is a reminder of how painful that experience can be. I find it amazing that this Pelican survived the ordeal.

Best Regards, Mike

Best Regards,  Mike

Hi Mike,

 

Yeah, it surprised the heck out of me too.  I wondered if it would suffer a fatal puncture from the spines but it appeared to be able to get it down to those powerful digestive juices with minimal damage...  I had not seen them take on a Catfish this large.  Having handled pelicans and large fish I suspect that the fish weighed close to half the wieght of the bird. This youngster probably weighed  less than 12 lbs.   Pelicans are surprisingly light with their hollow wings etc.

 

The light was less than optimal but ya get what it is in wildlife photography.  The 7D produces  images with less noise if they are a little over exposed but it caused some hot spots here.

Wow! What an awesome set of fishing gear the Pelican is armed with! A built in hook and landing net combination that seems highly effective.  They must have evolved over thousands of years to perfect the art of fishing. I really like the way the backlighting is illuminating the pelicans scoop.  A spectacular capture for both Pelican and photographer!

 

Compliments!

 

Alf

"Hard act to swallow", maybe more than a pun, and perhaps a little irony tossed in for extra flavor ;-)   Great shot, BTW, I remember those Catfish spines from night fishing down South.

Great shot Mr. Steve , look like the pelican show of the menu ah

 

Hi Steve,

  Wow....amazing capture with beautiful clarity & colors.  Take care, Patsy

Fantastic capture!!!

This proved to be a mouthful for this bird.

Pretty impressive catch for both you, and the pelican, Steve! Not sure how he got that one down but it sounds like it's easier said than done. Excellent work guy!

All the best,
Neil

That is one big catfish, hard to think this Pelican could even swallow somthing so big. Really great capture!  Best Regards.

Impressive! This is an amazing capture. I had to smile when I looked at it....and I feel a little sorry for the catfish  :) As always your images are inspiring and interesting. Well done!

 

Warmest regards, Pamela

Strange and fantastic photo of this bird's meal! His mouth is bigger than I ever thought...thanks for share Steve! Regards.

Steve,

Having spent many hours watching these guys over the past year or so, I'd say this is a very nice catch for the Pelican and the Photographer!

 

I can't even get a shot of them with their bill open! The backlighting here worked very well. It would be very entertaining to watch an event like you've witnessed.

 

Envious, with Congrats!

Jim j.

Hi Steve, breathtaking capture. Congratulation

Best regards,

Luisa Dasilva